FILE PHOTO: NBA: Boston Celtics-Media Day
Amy Tennery
Fri, October 22, 2021
(Reuters) - Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter posted a new video on Friday denouncing China's human rights record regarding Uyghur people and other Muslim minorities.
The video comes two days after Kanter, who has a history of activism speaking out against his native Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan, condemned the Chinese treatment of Tibet in a similar video, prompting a backlash in China L1N2RH0K2.
"Heartless Dictator of China, XI JINPING and the Communist Party of China. I am calling you out in front of the whole world. Close down the SLAVE labor camps and free the UYGHUR people!" Kanter wrote on Twitter. "Stop the GENOCIDE, now!"
Chinese authorities have been accused of facilitating forced labour by detaining around a million Uyghurs and other primarily Muslim minorities in camps since 2016.
China denies wrongdoing, saying it has set up vocational training centres to combat extremism.
"It's so disappointing that the governments and leaders of Muslim majority countries are staying silent while my Muslim brothers and sisters are getting killed, raped and tortured," Kanter said in a video accompanying the tweet, posted hours before the Celtics' home opener against the Toronto Raptors.
Kanter, 29, was pilloried on Chinese social media and his name appeared to be blocked on the popular Weibo messaging platform.
Celtics highlights were absent from China's Tencent Holdings Ltd sports platform on Thursday.
The United States voiced concern on Friday at China's actions against the National Basketball Association following Kanter's criticism of China's treatment of Tibet.
A State Department spokesperson said in an email, referring to the People's Republic of China: "The United States is deeply concerned by the PRC's actions against the National Basketball Association for statements one player made regarding Tibet."
The Celtics and the NBA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York and Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
Udoka: Celtics haven't talked to Kanter about Tibet comments
Raptors Celtics Basketball
Boston Celtics' Enes Kanter wears shoes with a political message during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Toronto Raptors, Friday, Oct. 22, 2021, in Boston. AP Photo/Michael Dwyer
JIMMY GOLEN
Fri, October 22, 2021
BOSTON (AP) — Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka said Friday night that he hasn’t talked to center Enes Kanter about the player's criticism of the Chinese government that led to the team's games being pulled off television there.
“We know it’s out there,” Udoka said before the team's home opener against the Toronto Raptors. “He is very passionate about a lot of things and he has the freedom to say what he wants. That’s above my department.”
In a series of social media posts, Kanter proclaimed his support for Tibetan independence and called Chinese President Xi Jinping a “dictator.” Kanter also wore shoes with the phrase “Free Tibet” on them during the Celtics game on Friday against Toronto, when he played five minutes and scored two points.
“More than 150 Tibetan people have burned themselves alive!! — hoping that such an act would raise more awareness about Tibet,” he wrote on Twitte r. "I stand with my Tibetan brothers and sisters, and I support their calls for Freedom."
Chinese broadcaster Tencent did not show the Celtics’ opener against the Knicks on streaming services that typically air the games, an apparent response to Kanter’s statements.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Thursday that Kanter was “clout-chasing, trying to get attention with Tibet-related issues.”
“His wrong remarks are not worth refuting,” Wang said.
Neither the NBA nor the Celtics have commented.
A native of Turkey, Kanter has been an outspoken critic of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Turkish government. Kanter has said his passport was revoked by his homeland in 2017.
It’s not the first time the league has been forced to navigate its relationship with the Chinese government — and the gigantic media market it controls. In October 2019, then-Houston general manager Daryl Morey tweeted in support of government protesters in Hong Kong, also leading to games being pulled from the air.
The NBA estimated that the strained relationship with the Chinese and lost broadcast rights cost the league about $400 million in revenue during the 2019-20 season alone.
___
AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds contributed to this story.
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Enes Kanter: Boston Celtics star under fire for Xi Jinping comments
Fri, October 22, 2021
In a video posted to Twitter, Kanter expressed support for the Free Tibet movement
Boston Celtics basketball player Enes Kanter is under fire in China after calling President Xi Jinping a "brutal dictator".
In a video posted to Twitter, he also expressed support for the Free Tibet movement.
His name has since been blocked from Chinese social media site Weibo, and the streaming of Celtics games has reportedly been cancelled.
China's foreign ministry has accused Kanter of "trying to get attention".
It comes two years after tweets from then Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey prompted China's broadcaster to cease showing NBA games.
"My message for the Chinese government is free Tibet," Kanter told his followers. "Tibet belongs to Tibetans."
China has long been accused of suppressing cultural and religious freedom in Tibet, a remote and mainly Buddhist region. The government denies the accusations and says Tibet has developed considerably under its rule.
On the same day as his video, Kanter showed off shoes with the phrase "Free Tibet" designed by Australia-based Chinese dissident cartoonist Badiucao. He had planned to wear them for his match against the New York Knicks but did not play. It's unclear whether the decision not to play Kanter was related to his political message.
Badiucao told the BBC that Kanter reached out to him weeks ago regarding collaborating on this project. "He has a very clear idea that he wants to advocate for the Tibetan community," the cartoonist said.
"It's a disappointment that he was not given a single minute on the court."
Chinese backlash to NBA boss's Hong Kong tweet
Protest held at Beijing Olympics torch lighting
Future Celtics matches are not listed as available for live broadcast on Chinese streaming app Tencent.
On the Celtics' official page, some fans called for him to be removed from the team while others urged an apology.
China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Kanter's remarks "were not worth refuting".
"We will never accept those attacks to discredit Tibet's development and progress," he said.
Kanter, who is known for his activism, has had his Turkish passport removed by the country's government over his remarks about President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In 2019, prosecutors in Turkey issued an international arrest warrant for Kanter, claiming he had links with armed groups behind a 2016 failed coup. Kanter denies the allegations.
When politics and sports tangle
Zhaoyin Feng, BBC News, Washington
The NBA has once again stepped onto a political landmine in one of its biggest markets.
Overnight, Enes Kanter has been largely wiped out from China's internet, but compared to Daryl Morey's Hong Kong tweet that set off a social media firestorm two years ago, reactions in China toward Kanter's comments have been relatively subdued.
Many NBA fans in China may know little about what exactly Kanter said, only realising the fact that he has offended the authorities. Without mentioning Kanter's comments, an NBA blogger in China says the player "forgot his own place" and tried to ingratiate himself with the US. "He is just a basketball player… He should focus on playing the ball."
The bigger picture of this controversy is that with the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics around the corner, politics and sports appear to be on a colliding path.
Activists have been urging a boycott of the Beijing Olympics over the country's human rights record, while China has repeatedly slammed these calls as "politicisation of sports". A senior member of the International Olympic Committee recently said that it's beyond the organisation's power to hold the Chinese government accountable for any human right abuses.
As both China's sporting prowess and its tension with the West continue to rise, it will soon be almost impossible for athletes, companies and international leagues to untangle the complicated link between politics and sports.
JIMMY GOLEN
Fri, October 22, 2021
BOSTON (AP) — Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka said Friday night that he hasn’t talked to center Enes Kanter about the player's criticism of the Chinese government that led to the team's games being pulled off television there.
“We know it’s out there,” Udoka said before the team's home opener against the Toronto Raptors. “He is very passionate about a lot of things and he has the freedom to say what he wants. That’s above my department.”
In a series of social media posts, Kanter proclaimed his support for Tibetan independence and called Chinese President Xi Jinping a “dictator.” Kanter also wore shoes with the phrase “Free Tibet” on them during the Celtics game on Friday against Toronto, when he played five minutes and scored two points.
“More than 150 Tibetan people have burned themselves alive!! — hoping that such an act would raise more awareness about Tibet,” he wrote on Twitte r. "I stand with my Tibetan brothers and sisters, and I support their calls for Freedom."
Chinese broadcaster Tencent did not show the Celtics’ opener against the Knicks on streaming services that typically air the games, an apparent response to Kanter’s statements.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Thursday that Kanter was “clout-chasing, trying to get attention with Tibet-related issues.”
“His wrong remarks are not worth refuting,” Wang said.
Neither the NBA nor the Celtics have commented.
A native of Turkey, Kanter has been an outspoken critic of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Turkish government. Kanter has said his passport was revoked by his homeland in 2017.
It’s not the first time the league has been forced to navigate its relationship with the Chinese government — and the gigantic media market it controls. In October 2019, then-Houston general manager Daryl Morey tweeted in support of government protesters in Hong Kong, also leading to games being pulled from the air.
The NBA estimated that the strained relationship with the Chinese and lost broadcast rights cost the league about $400 million in revenue during the 2019-20 season alone.
___
AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds contributed to this story.
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Enes Kanter: Boston Celtics star under fire for Xi Jinping comments
Fri, October 22, 2021
In a video posted to Twitter, Kanter expressed support for the Free Tibet movement
Boston Celtics basketball player Enes Kanter is under fire in China after calling President Xi Jinping a "brutal dictator".
In a video posted to Twitter, he also expressed support for the Free Tibet movement.
His name has since been blocked from Chinese social media site Weibo, and the streaming of Celtics games has reportedly been cancelled.
China's foreign ministry has accused Kanter of "trying to get attention".
It comes two years after tweets from then Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey prompted China's broadcaster to cease showing NBA games.
"My message for the Chinese government is free Tibet," Kanter told his followers. "Tibet belongs to Tibetans."
China has long been accused of suppressing cultural and religious freedom in Tibet, a remote and mainly Buddhist region. The government denies the accusations and says Tibet has developed considerably under its rule.
On the same day as his video, Kanter showed off shoes with the phrase "Free Tibet" designed by Australia-based Chinese dissident cartoonist Badiucao. He had planned to wear them for his match against the New York Knicks but did not play. It's unclear whether the decision not to play Kanter was related to his political message.
Badiucao told the BBC that Kanter reached out to him weeks ago regarding collaborating on this project. "He has a very clear idea that he wants to advocate for the Tibetan community," the cartoonist said.
"It's a disappointment that he was not given a single minute on the court."
Chinese backlash to NBA boss's Hong Kong tweet
Protest held at Beijing Olympics torch lighting
Future Celtics matches are not listed as available for live broadcast on Chinese streaming app Tencent.
On the Celtics' official page, some fans called for him to be removed from the team while others urged an apology.
China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Kanter's remarks "were not worth refuting".
"We will never accept those attacks to discredit Tibet's development and progress," he said.
Kanter, who is known for his activism, has had his Turkish passport removed by the country's government over his remarks about President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In 2019, prosecutors in Turkey issued an international arrest warrant for Kanter, claiming he had links with armed groups behind a 2016 failed coup. Kanter denies the allegations.
When politics and sports tangle
Zhaoyin Feng, BBC News, Washington
The NBA has once again stepped onto a political landmine in one of its biggest markets.
Overnight, Enes Kanter has been largely wiped out from China's internet, but compared to Daryl Morey's Hong Kong tweet that set off a social media firestorm two years ago, reactions in China toward Kanter's comments have been relatively subdued.
Many NBA fans in China may know little about what exactly Kanter said, only realising the fact that he has offended the authorities. Without mentioning Kanter's comments, an NBA blogger in China says the player "forgot his own place" and tried to ingratiate himself with the US. "He is just a basketball player… He should focus on playing the ball."
The bigger picture of this controversy is that with the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics around the corner, politics and sports appear to be on a colliding path.
Activists have been urging a boycott of the Beijing Olympics over the country's human rights record, while China has repeatedly slammed these calls as "politicisation of sports". A senior member of the International Olympic Committee recently said that it's beyond the organisation's power to hold the Chinese government accountable for any human right abuses.
As both China's sporting prowess and its tension with the West continue to rise, it will soon be almost impossible for athletes, companies and international leagues to untangle the complicated link between politics and sports.
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